In 2009, Sun and Wallis began training community members as emergency first aid responders in Manenberg, South Africa to treat the high levels of violence-related trauma present there,[7] as first responders had previously been suggested by the WHO as a possible alternative.
[8] They found community members were dispersed and able to arrive on scene sooner than professional emergency medical providers.
[1] Experiencing success, they realized that using community members who want to assist was a possibility worth exploring.
[1] However, the EFAR system model has primarily served to alleviate the inconsistent and unreliable response times of ambulances and other emergency services in the Cape Town area.
[7] EFAR systems were implemented in two rural regions of Zambia in 2015, though no refinements were made to the course for the new setting.